College of Applied Medical Sciences

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Course Description

Courses Description

Second Year

Geometric Optics OPTO 221 (2 + 1 = 3 Credits)

Geometric methods as applied to refractive and reflecting surfaces will be covered in this course, taught over 10 weeks with two hours of lectures and two hours of laboratory per week. Thin and thick lens systems; magnification and prism properties of lenses will be covered.

Clinical Visual Optics OPTO 223 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

In this course, a review of general and physical optics, optical properties of the eye, image quality, schematic and reduced eyes, optics of the cyclopean eye, measurement of parameters of the eye, accommodation, retinal image size, refractive errors, visual axes, Euclidean and non-Euclidean space, Pulfrich phenomenon, spherical ametropia as related to spectacle and relative spectacle magnification, ocular catoptrics and entopic phenomena will be taught over ten weeks with two lecture hours per week.

In this course, the first of a series of five clinical courses, patient history, visual acuity, pinhole, keratometry, potential acuity measurement and objective methods for the determination of refractive status, will be taught over ten weeks with one lecture hour and four hours of clinical practice per week.

Ophthalmic Optics and Dispensing I OPTO 225 (2 + 1 = 3 Credits)

This course will consist of one two-hour lecture and one two hour lab per week over a period of ten weeks. It will cover ophthalmic materials, optical and physical characteristics of ophthalmic lenses, prisms and decentration, spheric and aspheric lenses, multifocal lenses, lens power measurement methods, lens power-thickness relationships and aberration theory and its application to lens design.

Practice Management I OPTO 226 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

This course will consist of two-hour lecture sessions once a week for ten weeks. It will cover the characteristics of a profession, history of optometry, legal limitations of Optometry, major Optometric Organizations, ethics of optometry practice, ethics and responsibilities of the healthcare practitioner, professional code of ethics and ethical issues that arise in the practice of Optometry. Ethical case studies will be presented here. Students are expected to make presentations in this course. Principles of human interpersonal skills and effective patient communication skills will also be taught in this course.

Human Anatomy OPTO 227 (3 + 0 = 3 Credits)

Gross anatomy of the human body and of the major organ systems including the central, peripheral, autonomic, cardiovascular, endocrine digestive and reproductive systems will be studied over ten weeks covered in three hour lectures once a week. Basic tissue and organ histology will be related to general human anatomy.

Human Physiology OPTO 228 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

General Physiology of the human body and of the major organ systems including the central, peripheral, autonomic, cardiovascular, endocrine digestive and reproductive systems will be studied over ten weeks covered in three hour lectures once a week.

Physical Optics and Photometry OPTO 311 (1 + 1 = 2 Credits)

This course will be covered in one hour of lectures and two hours of labs per week. Principles of optical systems, principles and clinical applications of apertures and stops, basic photometric concepts, measurement of light levels, applications in ergonomics as well as selected topics in physical optics such as diffraction, interference, polarization, birefringence and lasers will be covered in this course.

Introduction to Pharmacology OPTO 312 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

Basic principles of pharmacology (pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics and therapeutics), action of drugs on nerve transmission, biochemical and cellular sites and mechanisms of actions of drugs, drug classifications, parasympathomimetic drugs, parasympatholytics, sympathomimetics and sympatholytics, drug absorption, distribution and elimination and drug use and contraindications will all be covered in this course in two hour lectures every week for a period of ten weeks.

In this course, the second of a series of five clinical courses, direct and indirect ophthalmoscopy, slit-lamp biomicroscope examination of the anterior segment, subjective refraction (monocular and binocular), stereopsis, color vision and contrast sensitivity, will be covered over ten weeks with two lecture hours and six hours of clinical practice per week.

Practice Management II OPTO 315 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

This course will consist of two-hour lecture sessions once a week for ten weeks. It will cover patient scheduling and communication, office design and routine, office flows, accounting and finance in the optometric setting, fee computation techniques, personnel management and recall systems. The establishment and management of an optometry practice, legal developments, governmental relationships, legislation and the legislative process, malpractice, professional ethics, taxes.

Anatomy and Physiology of the Head and Neck OPTO 316 (2 + 1 = 3 Credits)

This course will consist of one tone-hour lecture and one two-hour lab per week over a period of ten weeks. It will cover selection and dispensation of eyewear, management of an eyewear dispensary, lens specifications and their verification, multifocal lenses, special lenses, aniseikonic lenses, optical principles of low vision aids, contact lens optics, protective eyewear.

Third Year

Binocular Vision I OPTO 321 (2 + 1 = 3 Credits)

This course will consist of one two-hour lecture and one two-hour clinical practice per week over a period of ten weeks. It will cover: an overview of binocular vision including its advantages and disadvantages, normal binocular vision phenomena (visual direction, retinal correspondence, sensory fusion, motor fusion, fixation disparity, AC/A ratio, binocular summation, ocular dominance, depth perception and stereopsis), neurophysiology and development of binocular vision, heterophorias and disorders of accommodation, vergence and aniseikonia and eikonometry.

In this third course of its series of clinical courses, slit-lamp biomicroscope examination of the posterior segment, Gonioscopy, tonometry, visual fields, Amsler grid, brightness and color comparison, exophthalmometry and pupil evaluation will be covered over ten weeks with one lecture hour and four hours of clinical practice per week.

General Pathology I OPTO 325 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

In this course, selected topics dealing with the principles of pathology will be covered over ten weeks with three lecture hours per week. Topics to be covered include: Cell injury, adaptation and death, acute and chronic inflammation, cell regeneration and fibrosis, Immune system diseases, Genetic and pediatric diseases and general pathology of infectious diseases. This course will examine the basic pathologic mechanisms of the disease processes mentioned including the pathologic anatomy and pathophysiology. Where one of the diseases mentioned above has ocular manifestations, these manifestations will be discussed.

Ocular Anatomy and Physiology OPTO 326 (2 + 1 = 3 Credits)

In this course, the entire gamut of ocular anatomy and physiology will be covered over ten weeks with two lecture hours and three laboratory hours per week. Topics to be covered include: the orbit, outer coats of the eye, middle coats of the eye, internal ocular media, retina, structures external to the eye, lacrimal apparatus, extraocular muscles, orbital blood supply, nerve supply of the orbit and ocular embryology.

Contact Lenses I OPTO 327 (1 + 1 = 2 Credits)

Here, review of thin lens optics, introduction to contact lenses, soft contact lens materials, soft contact lenses and their verification methods, fitting procedures of soft lenses, contact lens clinic procedures and policies, record keeping and follow-up care, will be taught over a ten week period covered with one lecture hour and two clinical and laboratory hours per week.

Physiology of Vision I OPTO 328 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

The eye as a photoreceptor organ, transmission characteristics of the eye, the duplex retina and psychophysical methodology, will be covered over ten weeks with 2 hours of lecture per week.

Clinical Ocular Pharmacology OPTO 410 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

Principles of pharmacology. dosage, administration, indications, contraindications and adverse effects of drugs used for diagnosis and treatment of abnormal conditions of the eye, adnexia and visual system. Oculovisual manifestations of systemically administered medications will be covered in this course in two-hour weekly lectures over ten weeks.

Binocular Vision II OPTO 411 (2 + 1 = 3 Credits)

Having discussed binocular vision the aim of this course is to cover the anomalies of binocular vision but the management of these anomalies will not be covered in this course but in orthoptics. Topics to be covered here include: extraocular muscle anatomy and innervation, heterotropias, microtropias, amblyopia, Aphakia, incomitant strabismus, A and V patterns, neurogenic disorders, mechanical paralytic strabismus, Myogenic disorders, nystagmus, intranuclear and Supranuclear disorders, will be covered in two hour weekly lectures, and one two-hour clinical practice per week, over a ten week period.

General Pathology II OPTO 412 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

In this course, selected topics dealing with organ system diseases will be covered over ten weeks with two lecture hours per week. Topics to be covered include: Blood vessels, liver and biliary tract, endocrine system, central nervous system, pancreas, head and neck, red cells and bleeding disorders.

Ocular Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology OPTO 413 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

In this course, gross anatomy and physiology of the cerebrum and brainstem, anatomy and physiology of the optic nerve, optic chiasm, optic radiations and visual cortex, visual information processing and nuclear organization & innervational control of those cranial nerves which sub serve the oculovisual system will be covered in two-hour weekly lectures over a period of ten weeks.

Oculomotor functions and neurology OPTO 414 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

In two hour lectures per week, this course will cover the following topics over ten weeks: neuroanatomical pathways for the control of eye position and movement, gaze holding, image stabilization, tracking eye movement systems, oculomotor signs of disorders of the central nervous systems (palsies, nystagmus, ophthalmoplegia, cog-wheel pursuits, saccadic dysmetria, the near visuomotor response and the synergistic coupling of accommodation and convergence.

Contact Lenses II OPTO 415 (1 + 1 = 2 Credits)

In this second course in the contact lens series, hard (RGP) contact lens materials, hard contact lenses and their verification methods, fitting procedures of hard lenses, contact lenses for presbyopia, therapeutic and cosmetic contact lenses, will be taught over a ten week period covered with one lecture hour and two clinical and laboratory hours per week.

Relationship of the eye and vision to all aspects of the environment including home, work, recreation and transportation will be covered. Protecting the eye from injury, maximizing visual performance, industrial ophthalmic performance and requirements for motor vehicle and machinery licensing, will be covered over ten weeks with 2 hours of lecture per week.

Ocular photography, topography, specular microscopy, corneal pachymetry, aberrometry and ocular quality assessment will be covered over ten weeks with one lecture hour and four hours of clinical practice per week.

Orthoptics OPTO 420 (2 + 1 = 3 Credits)

Orthoptic investigative procedures will be the first topic handled in this course after which this course is designed to exactly mirror Binocular Vision II, dealing with the management of each of the binocular vision anomalies discussed in that course. This course will be taught with two hours of lectures and two hours of clinical practice per week over ten weeks.

Contact Lenses III OPTO 421 (1 + 1 = 2 Credits)

In this course, soft and hard toric, aphakic, keratoconic, presbyopic, therapeutic, cosmetic, prosthetic and ortho K lens fitting and verification will be taught over a ten week period covered with one lecture hour and two clinical and laboratory hours per week.

Ocular Disease I OPTO 422 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

This course will cover diseases of the orbit, ocular adnexia and anterior segment and will be taught over a ten week period covered with two lecture hours per week.

Optometry Clinics I OPTO 423 (0 + 3 = 3 Credits)

In this entirely clinical course, the student is required to examine (and fill in case reports for) a minimum of five routine patients a week, in the external Optometry clinic run by the Optometry department.

Contact lens Clinics I OPTO 424 (0 + 2 = 2 Credits)

In this clinical course, the student is required to examine (and fill in case reports for) a minimum of five routine patients (five each for regular soft and hard lenses) a week in the external contact lens specialty clinic run by the Optometry department.

Microbiology I OPTO 425 (1 + 1 = 2 Credits)

This course provides and introduction to the physiology and morphology of bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. Topics to be covered include microbial growth and death, laboratory culture, host-pathogen interactions, antimicrobial chemotherapy, pathogenic mechanisms, ocular microbiology and pathogenic mechanisms common to the external ocular infectious processes. The labs will include an introduction to general microbiological technique, procedures for obtaining ocular microbiological and cytochemical specimens, and the use of laboratory procedures for the differential diagnosis of external ocular inflammations. This course will be covered over ten weeks with one hour weekly lectures and a two-hour laboratory practice session per week.

Low Vision OPTO 427 (2 + 1 = 3 Credits)

Etiology, epidemiology, symptoms, signs, course and sequelae of low vision problems will be covered. Methods of testing the low vision patient, prognosis, selection of therapy, design of environmental and optical aids, problems of rehabilitation. Interdisciplinary rehabilitation resources, agencies, laws, public and social assistance for the partially sighted and the blind will also be covered with two hours of lectures and two hours of clinicals per week.

Developmental Psychology OPTO 428 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

The following topics will be covered: Early infant cognition and memory; emotions, self, gender and identity; changes in moral reasoning abilities; socio-cognitive accounts of anti- social behaviour in children; psychological impact of adolescent change; psychosocial change in adulthood and old age, considering stage models of development.

The description and assessment of intelligence, links between intelligence and personality, some of the major intelligence and personality tests, the factorial trait approach to personality and the influence of personality on behaviour and wellbeing will also be covered in this course with two hours of lectures per week over the entire semester.

Pediatric Optometry OPTO 429 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

Embryology and development of the eye and visual system, the importance of early visual assessment, congenital ocular diseases and the effects of visual deprivation, assessment of oculovisual function in infants and children, normal and abnormal development of visuomotor function, spatial vision, color vision, form vision, depth perception and stereoacuity will all be covered in two hour weekly lectures over ten weeks.

Ocular Disease II OPTO 430 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

This course will cover diseases of the posterior segment and will be taught over a ten-week period covered with two lecture hours per week.

Ultrasonography, ocular electrophysiology diagnostic tests (ERG, VEP, EOG), tomographic and scanning laser polarimetry of the optic nerve head and nerve fibre layer will be covered over ten weeks with one lecture hour and four hours of clinical practice per week.

Optometry Clinics II OPTO 432 (0 + 3 = 3 Credits)

In this entirely clinical course, identical to optometry clinics I, the student is required to continue to examine (and fill in case reports for) a minimum of five routine patients a week, in the external Optometry clinic run by the Optometry department.

Contact lens Clinics II OPTO 433 (0 + 2 = 2 Credits)

In this clinical course, the student is required to continue to examine (and fill in case reports for) a minimum of ten routine patients (five each for regular soft and regular hard lenses) a week, in the external contact lens clinic run by the Optometry department.

Microbiology II OPTO 435 (1 + 1 = 2 Credits)

This course will cover the physiology, pathology, treatment and epidemiology of infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasitic organisms. Particular emphasis is given to diseases with ocular manifestations and important infectious diseases common in the middle-eastern region, including Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and tuberculosis.

Fifth Year

Community Health Science OPTO 438 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

This course will be tutored in two parts with two hourly lectures a week over a ten-week period:

A. Epidemiology: Principles and methods of epidemiology, vital statistics, epidemiology of oculovisual disorders and systemic disorders which affect the eyes, will be covered under this section.

B. Public Health management: A review of local, state and regional organizations involved in healthcare, comprehensive health planning, new trends in healthcare delivery, assessment of quality of healthcare delivery are all covered in this section. The relationship of these topics to vision care is emphasized.

In this course, spatial vision, temporal aspects of vision, motion perception, depth perception, the organization of cells in the striate cortex, information streams and extrastriate processing, development and maturation of vision, will be covered in two hourly lectures per week over ten weeks.

The student continues to examine (and fill in case reports for) a minimum of three patients a week, in the external optometry clinic run by the optometry department. However, in this advanced clinical rotation, the students must undergo two-week long rotations in each of the following specialty clinics: ocular disease, pediatric, low vision and binocular vision & orthoptics

Contact lens Clinics III OPTO 441 (0 + 2 = 2 Credits)

In this clinical course, the student is required to manage (and fill in case reports for) a minimum of four patients a week in the external contact lens specialty clinic run by the optometry department. The student is expected to attain proficiency in fitting and managing patients who require soft and hard toric lenses, keratoconic lenses, bandage lenses, therapeutic lenses, cosmetic lenses and ocular prostheses.

Optometric Statistics OPTO 442 (1 + 1 = 2 Credits)

In this course students are required to understand and gain proficiency in the application of the following: literature survey and study design, descriptive statistics, basic probability concepts, probability distributions, simple linear regression and correlation, the Chi-square distribution and the analysis of frequencies, non-parametric and distribution-free statistics. Use of computer software to aid in the collation and analysis of data is imperative in both sections of this course. The course will be taught with one hour of lectures and two hours of laboratory every week for ten weeks.

Clinical Medicine I OPTO 445 (1 + 1 = 2 Credits)

This course is an introduction to the clinical correlates of disease processes, history taking, physical examination, laboratory evaluation, differential diagnosis and the management and treatment of systemic disease. Emphasis is placed on the inter-relationship between ocular and systemic disease. Ethics and patient communication will be covered, along with infectious diseases, tropical medicine and sexually transmitted diseases. All the diseases covered in general pathology I will be analyzed from a clinical medicine stand point. This course will be covered with one hour of lectures and two hours of practicals/laboratory/clinical per week.

Final Project I OPTO 498 (0 + 3 = 3 Credits)

In this course the student selects what type of project he/she would like to pursue. Projects may be in form of literature reviews, laboratory studies, epidemiological studies, clinical studies or prospective/retrospective clinical case studies. After selecting the project type, a literature review follows. In the case of a literature review study, this review process constitutes this entire course but in all other cases, after the literature review, the student must then proceed with the study design, sample size determination and data collection. The student is expected to collect at least 60% of his/her data in this course. In the case of a literature review study 60% of the papers for the review must be read and analyzed in this course. For the entire duration of the semester, the student is required to meet with his/her supervisor to discuss the progress of the study. It is expected that parts of the project (such as the introduction and subjects and methods) will be written up in this course.

Sixth Year

Geriatric Optometry OPTO 446 (2 + 0 = 2 Credits)

Special examination techniques and management considerations of the geriatric patient will be discussed. Psychological, physiological, social and demographic aspects of aging will also be taught in this course as well as ocular changes associated with aging the effects of these changes on overall visual function and quality of life as well as diagnostic methods for each condition. All these will be covered in two-hour weekly lectures over ten weeks.

Psychology of cognition, emotion & motivation OPTO 447 (2 + 0 = 2)

This course will be covered in two-hour lectures per week over the duration of the semester. The following topics will be discussed: Historical perspectives and methodological issues of cognition; Face recognition - processing and decoding emotional expression; Memory processes - amnesia, everyday memory, flashbulb memory; Nature and function of mental imagery; Thinking, reasoning and the influence of affective states on thinking; Definition of emotion; Critical analysis of traditional and contemporary models of emotion and their empirical support; The cognitive approach of emotions; The emotional brain; Emotion- memory interactions.

Optometric Case Analysis OPTO 448 (0 + 2 = 2 Credits)

This course is taught in a two-way interactive presentation format between the tutor/s and the students. Once a week over ten weeks, the lecture consists of two or three presentations of cases, in general or specialty optometry, by the tutor. In these cases, relevant diagnostic information is left out and the students are tasked to ask the relevant questions and come up with a diagnoses and management plans based on their findings. Individual students are required to present single clinical cases of patients they have examined, in the same format as those presented by the tutor. Different students are required to present cases each week after the cases presented by the tutor/s.

Advanced Clinics II OPTO 449 (0 + 4 = 4 Credits)

This is a continuation of Advanced Clinics I in the second semester of the final OD year.

This course is also handled in a two-way interactive presentation format. Every week for ten weeks during a 3-hour lecture, the tutor presents a published paper relevant to optometry or vision sciences and no more than 2 years since the publication date. One or two students are then required to present one paper each on a topic of interest to optometry and vision sciences and to discuss the design of the study, its methods, the validity of its conclusions and the impact of the conclusions on Optometry and/or Vision Science.

Clinical Medicine II OPTO 452 (1 + 1 = 2 Credits)

This course continues from Clinical Medicine I and covers diseases explored in General Pathology II from a clinical medicine standpoint. The following topics are also covered: nutrition, malignant disease, water, electrolytes &acid-base balance, cardiovascular disease, drug therapy & poisoning and environmental medicine. The course will taught with an hour of lectures and two hours of clinical/labs per week.

Final Project II OPTO 499 (0 + 3 = 3 Credits)

In this course the student winds down the data collection stage of the project and starts with data collation, analysis and project write up. The student with guidance of his/her supervisor is required write a thesis for the entire project and depending on the type of presentation determined by the faculty, the student must also prepare a shortened version of his/her thesis to present as a talk or in poster form.